Over at Heinz Field the news of the day continues to be weather. Don Renzulli told me he's still seeing forecasts calling for showers and temperatures in the high 40s to low 50s, but while contingency plans are being discussed at the highest level within the NHL there is still plenty of optimism that the Winter Classic will be played on Saturday.

Dan Craig had his ice crew painting the lines, circles, faceoff dots, and blue creases while also installing the logos this afternoon once the sun faded away from Heinz Field. They are expected to finish the artwork and seal overtop of it by 10 o'clock or so tonight.

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl made his first appearance at Heinz Field the Hockey Rink Tuesday afternoon with a group of kids from the Pittsburgh I.C.E. hockey program. They learned how to paint the crease with Craig and even wrote "PENS" in the middle of it.

Ravenstahl told reporters on site that he's looking at the Winter Classic as another opportunity to showcase to the country and the world how Pittsburgh is changing its image.

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I don't have a crystal ball. Predicting is a real complicated thing. If we stay healthy, have enough depth and get the good goaltending we think we're going to have, you can go all the way. But a lot of things have to happen. There's going to be a lot of teams that think the same thing. Everyone made deals. We're all are optimistic about where we'll end up.

— Rangers general manager Glen Sather after being asked if he's constructed a team that can win the Stanley Cup before their 4-1 win against the Predators on Monday